Football · International
Atlético’s four goals in Salzburg secure a direct place in the last sixteen
Atlético won 4–1 in Austria on 29 January and finished fifth in the Champions League league phase, qualifying directly for the round of 16.
Event date:
An early lead becomes a four-goal advantage
Atlético de Madrid defeated Salzburg 4–1 on 29 January in the final matchday of the Champions League league phase. Giuliano Simeone scored in the fifth minute, his first goal in the competition, and Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead in the thirteenth. Griezmann scored again in first-half added time, sending Atlético into the interval 3–0 ahead. The club’s official match record places Marcos Llorente’s fourth goal in the sixty-fourth minute. Adam Daghim scored Salzburg’s reply in the first minute of stoppage time. The hosts’ fixture archive independently confirms the result and date at the Red Bull Arena, following their 5–1 defeat away to Real Madrid a week earlier.
Fifth place changes the route through Europe
Atlético’s qualification announcement confirmed fifth place in the final league-phase table. That position delivered direct access to the round of 16 and the right to host the second leg at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The possible opponents at the conclusion of January were Manchester City, Celtic, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. Those clubs had finished 22 nd,21 st,12 th and 11 th, respectively, requiring a two-legged knockout playoff before the last sixteen. Atlético’s announcement explained the next steps: the 31 January draw would pair City and Celtic with Bayern and Real, then a 21 February draw would place the playoff winners against Atlético or Bayer Leverkusen. No single round-of 16 opponent had yet been confirmed after the Salzburg game.
The two clubs arrived with different objectives
UEFA’s pre-match account recorded that Salzburg had already been eliminated after matchday seven, with three points and six defeats. Atlético, meanwhile, had guaranteed knockout participation by coming from behind to beat Leverkusen 2–1. For Salzburg, the competition had begun months earlier in qualifying: a 5–4 aggregate win over Twente was followed by a 3–1 aggregate playoff success against Dynamo Kyiv. Atlético’s recent European away results also mattered to the setting. After losing 4–0 at Benfica, the Spanish club had won 2–1 at Paris Saint-Germain and 6–0 at Sparta Prague. The Salzburg match was thus a chance to improve Atlético’s final position and extend that successful run of away results, while the Austrian side was completing its European campaign.
The official match record
UEFA’s full-time report lists 23,389 spectators and identifies Thomas Letsch and Diego Simeone as the respective coaches. Alexander Schlager captained Salzburg from goal, while Koke wore Atlético’s armband and Jan Oblak started in goal for the visitors. The Austrian starting eleven also included Daghim, Oscar Gloukh, Dorgeles Nene and Nicolás Capaldo. Griezmann, Julián Alvarez, Giuliano Simeone and Samuel Lino all started for Atlético, with Llorente alongside them in the listed eleven. Anthony Taylor refereed the match. The report preserves the 3–0 halftime score separately from the 4–1 final result, confirming that Atlético had established most of its winning margin before the break.
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